In the electrical industry, tools and machines that attach electrical terminals to conductors commonly accept carrier tape having the terminals attached thereto. Such tools and machines include a tape feed system that guides and feeds the tape so that the individual terminals are moved into position within a workstation where the crimping operation takes place. An example of such a carrier tape and terminals is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. There, a carrier tape 10 is shown having a plurality of electrical terminals 12 held in place by means of a cover tape 14 which is ultrasonically welded in place, at the points 16, in the usual manner. The carrier strip 10 includes a row of rectangular openings 18 along an edge 20 thereof that are used for feeding the strip in a crimping apparatus. Each terminal has an axis 22 that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 24 of the carrier tape. The longitudinal axis 24, edge 20, or an edge 26 of the openings 18 can serve as a datum from which the terminals 12 are accurately positioned on the carrier tape 10 so that when the tape is fed into the workstation, the crimping zone 28 of the terminal can be accurately positioned with respect to the crimping dies. Optionally, a layer of adhesive tape 30 may be placed between the cover tape 14 and the terminal 12, extending between the cover tape 14 and the surface of the carrier tape 10, as shown in FIG. 2, to aid in terminal retention. The tooling that receives the barrel end 32 of the terminal 12 includes a positioner that receives and aligns each terminal as it is fed into the workstation for crimping. Because a given tool must accommodate a range of different terminals, there must be a different positioner for each different terminal. Additionally, some terminals, such as wire nuts, splices, or wire connectors, have different external configurations for similar conductor sizes, requiring a different positioner for each. This requires that the tool be customized for each different terminal being used and becomes inconvenient when different terminals are constantly being terminated. A range of terminals, as used herein, is defined as a group of different terminals, each of which requires a different crimp height than the other terminals in the range, and wherein a single applicator tool can accommodate all of the terminals in the range.
What is needed is a package system for electrical terminals that positions each terminal on the carrier tape so that its crimping zone is a standard distance from both the surface of the tape and from the datum. This would obviate the need for positioners and allow for different terminals to be packaged on the same tape for use sequentially in the same tool.